I'm still not sure I can talk about it. All I know is that my creative stumbling blocks are completely fucked; I've been writing/sampling/juggling compulsively every day.

And I was a virgin, so the dust storms just fueled my romantic sense of novelty.

I had an incredible time. I arrived in the dust on Monday and left as the sun set the next Monday. I was amazed at the art and the ingenuity of it all. I met some amazing people. Although I was bad at getting contact info =( I have some great stories to tell and some amazing pictures. I loved the ring of fire shot from Snowballs in Hell, The snowcone from Apoloptolika, The shopping cart art car, and especially the grilled cheese from The Dust City Diner. The diner was such a fun experience.

I am happy so many people were able to see my art project "the paper tree" and liked my horns I gave as gifts. Thanks to everyone who helped get my project there and everyone who commented on it. I learned enough from this experience that next year I will be registering my next project and going for playa placement. So yes I will be back.

incredible.

Undescribable.... Amazing... Still in ahhhhh.... Counting down the days for next year. It was so amazing what we do in our city and how quickly it grows and the energy that we spread throughout the week.....

<---screams..... I LOVE THIS CITY!!!!!

Oh My God. I just arrived home fully burned. I cried like a baby when the temple fell, and I haven't really stopped yet. I slept in my dusty playa clothes because I missed the smell and the scritchiness. I immediately came and checked the BM site looking for connection to the amazing, mindfucking, life altering experience that I just had. I even brought home a couple of stray burners....

We arrived on Monday and came damn close to leaving when my son and I looked at each other through gritty eyes and said, what the fuck? I bet the experienced burners were having a great laugh at the virgins during the storm. By the second storm on Wednesday (?) we were old hands, and by the time of the big blow after the temple burn, we were partying with the best of them, goggles and vodka in hand, got lost, found our way home, and went right back out again...

I still can't quite comprehend what just happened, but plans are already in the works for next year, and both my son and I will likely never miss it.... Now how to go back to the life we were leading before? how can I explain to people that sitting in the middle of the playa at sunrise, listening to Happy Happy Joy Joy booming from the giant duck slowly cruising in the distance, watching purple flames spewing from metal lotus blossoms, being swept away by a touch of playa love, playing pool and roller skating in the middle of the fucking desert with the most vibrant, exciting city in the world pulsing around me where there was nothing three weeks earlier, was the most real, most genuine experience I have ever had...

I will miss the throb...

i can't wait to go back!

Dang it was frelling dusty this year, wasn't it? Biking sucked.

I had a most amazing time,

a true spiritual experience on the 'Earth Energy" heartbeat and a great walk about in the midst of the White out on Saturday. and an even better time walking the playa with My Friends late into the night.. meeting new Friends. and catching up with Old friends..

the weather overall was perfect this year,

Biking was a bitch, truly felt like peddling ON the beach, we did it once and then parked them the rest of the week.. I have come to really enjoy walking more than biking..

p.s. the dust storms were actually fun, not what i expected.
our camp put on dust masks and goggles, and cranked up the music and danced in it.

The weather was perfect, never very hot, never very cold, dust storms no great hardship, the bicycling a treat. Did have to watch out for the heavier drifts, but no worries. The scene at night, surrounded on all sides by a colorful, vibrant, noisy party town complete with cruising artworks and competing mobile discos and bursts of flame and happy, trusting people with sometimes the most priceless expressions is a scene I will never forget and never adequately describe to anyone who hasn't been there.

I think I will never be the same again.... am looking forward to next year.... having a hard time in real life... love mind altering experiences like never before... met soooo many cool peeps and made new friends... Loved the Soul Train! Loved the music! Loved freakin' EVERYTHING!
As we danced our asses off in the complete dust storm at the Deep End on Saturday, I thought about how miserable I was feeling in the dust storm on arrival Monday - like almost crying.... ok I did cry! (I thought it was one of the worst days of my life, after I almost passed out and then hit my head on the towel rack of my trailer bathroom) and there I was on Saturday, dancing & drinking in the dust....laughed my ass off!
SF Decompression. Can't wait!

surreal, life altering, heart exploding & mind blowing experience during and since then...

Coming to the gates in the dust storm, being let in early after missing the turnoff in the white-out. We were the only vehicle giong through, and everyone there coming to greet us...

There was a beautiful woman with horns, a cowboy, and a man in a gorgeous evening gown. They pulled us out, embraced us in the dust, and welcomed us home...

And then I got a group hump.

It was the most magical entry into an amazing utopia made by us for us. And will I be going back?

Wouldn't miss it for the world.

It was AWESOME.
The dust storms were not actually that bad. Just put your mask and goggles on, cover your beer and have fun.
I'm already looking toward BM 2009... :)

Oh by the way, there is a Decompression Party coming up in Los Angeles (Oct 4) - www.la-burningman.org
Anyone's going?

Absolutely stupendous.

I have never felt so happy, free, alive, accepted, wanted, needed, safe, cared for, special...

Everything and everyone was beautiful. And that is not because of the copious amounts of drugs I took, although they helped. :P

Brilliant! I immediately felt at home. I understand what "welcome home" means now. I loved the environment, the dust, walking out into the storms. I want to move to the desert now. I was radically self reliant. I ran out onto the open playa, looking up at the stars, jumping up and down shouting "yes, yes, yes. I did it." I wore a t-shirt one day that said HIV + while passing out safe sex kits. A tremendous opp to educate. I sat next to and spoke to a 65 year old man at Booby Bar who wasn't wearing any pants. He was there in the early days of HIV in SF. He was invited to the burn by his 23yo son. Educated another guy who thought that if a man was to get the HIV virus on his penis the virus crawls around the back side and goes up the anus into the body. His only concept of how HIV enters the body is up the butt. Yes, your penis is a receptacle for the HIV virus. It is only 10% less risky for the active male than it is for the passive recipient.

My bike was stolen as I was riding out to watch the man burn. Stopped at the porta, came out and it was gone Portas was the only time I didn't lock it. Doh! If anyone picked up a bike with a Baby Yoda doll attached to the front that would be mine. I would like to get Baby Yoda back. Temple Burn was cool. Good releasing moment for me. My brain chemistry was ready for a good cry by then. My biking legs...legs were chop suey by day two. Legs have never been that sore in my entire life. I did lot's of dancing. One night I let my ear take me through the city. Another night, my eyes. I had a long rubber snake attached to fishing line. I would throw it across the road and then pull it back when unsuspecting citizens would pass by. It was so much fun scaring people. I was like a 10yo boy again. I was happy with my Medusa installation. Check her out in my pics. She's anatomically correct.

It was the best week of sleep that I have had in ages. No where to go, nothing to do, no contact with the outside world. Peaceful. Went to a wedding. Finding people was much more difficult than I thought. Playa time and playa plans, yep. I will go with people next time. Survived without cooking. Good times.

A+!